Fantastic Four Review: 7 Stupid Blunders That Totally Ruin The Film
3. A Total Lack Of Team Interaction
What Fantastic Four as a series has that the likes of Spider-Man or any of the stand-alone Avengers lack is that camaraderie. Whereas Marvel have had to spend years building their Cinematic Universe up to the point where they can have unannounced cameos, interaction is something built into Marvel's first family. Reed and Sue flirt (and marry); Johnny and Ben bicker; Sue and Johnny bicker (only as siblings); Reed and Ben are friends: it's a wonderful set of relationships ripe for exploration. And guess what Fant4stic lacks completely? That's right - anything coming close to a group dynamic. The four aren't even in the same location until after they get their powers, and there's no four-way shared screen-time until the third act is well underway. Ben and Sue don't even have a proper exchange. Even with the individual relationships that are in the broadest sense "set up" before the team forms, the film fails. Johnny and Sue are brother and sister, but outside of one brief greeting there's no sign of any sibling affection/animosity, while the fact that Reed Richards has long-time friendship with Ben Grimm is repeated over and over without ever actually getting shown.